Who is Telaya on ‘The Orville’? Krill Plot Recap & Refresher

FOX The Krill on The Orville

Tonight an old enemy returns on The Orville — the Krill. Here’s a refresher about who the Krill are and when we’ve seen them before. And just who Telaya is on the show.

First, a quick summary. Telaya is the Krill that Ed met when he went undercover looking like a Krill near the end of Season 1. They formed a bond, until he ultimately betrayed her. The last we heard, she was in prison with the Union. This was the episode called Krill (Episode 6 of Season 1), where Capt. Ed Mercer and Gordon Malloy infiltrated the Yakar destroyer after they recovered a Krill shuttle. The Yakar was going to test a prototype bomb on a colony planet. Gordon hacked the computer to emit blasts of light that killed the Yakar crew. But Mercer and Malloy saved some schoolchildren and their school teacher Teleya. Mercer had developed a bond with Teleya, and she was angered when she discovered the truth. The children were sent back to their homeworld, but Teleya was taken into Union custody.

Here’s a quick refresher of that episode:

Now for more background on the Krill species.

The Krill come from a planet of the same name (Krill.) According to Orville’s Wikia and previous Orville episodes, they’re a reptilian species located in the same quadrant as the Planetary Union. They don’t care about life and they’re the Planetary Union’s main enemy.

The Krill worship a god called Avis who demands that anyone who is not Krill be destroyed. So they’re always in conflict with everyone around them. (In some ways, they’re like the early version of the Klingons on Star Trek before finding peace with The Federation.) The stories of Avis are recorded in the Anhkana, which is where they learn that only Krill have souls. Even species that appear sentient are regarded as soulless, with no more thought than a complex computer program. Part of their worship services often involves a blood sacrifice, such as the severed head of a human.

The Krill are known to have at least two types (that we know of so far.) They’re a pale-skinned Krill with black eyes and a blue-grey-skinned Krill with white eyes and black irises. The Krill is incredibly vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation, even in lights or from sunlight that wouldn’t hurt people. This is because their planet is always in darkness.

The Krill have strong warships, led by a captain and a High Priest.

The Krill and the Planetary Union are often in conflict, although there is no declared war.

At one point, the Krill put a spy on the Epsilon Science Station, posing as a lab technician named Dr. Derek Ashton. A device capable of rapidly aging anything within a quantum bubble was developed at that station, and Ashton called for the Krill to raid the station. They captured the device, but the Orville was able to destroy the ship that took it.

The Krill were seen in multiple episodes of Season 1, including Old Wounds (the pilot, where the plot with Derek Ashton happens), If the Stars Should Appear (Episode 4, where the Druyan is attacked by the Krill, and the Orville destroys the attacking ship), Krill (Episode 6, where Mercer and Malloy go undercover as Krill), and New Dimensions (Episode 11.)